1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and more particularly, to an RFID tag attached to a member requiring to be washed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Initially, an RFID technology was regarded as being proper for product circulation or distribution, and thus, was used in fields related to product circulation or distribution. However, an RFID technology is being widely used in many different fields at present, and also is used in poor environments. In particular, an RFID technology is required in laundry, semiconductor, and mold fields, in which an RFID tag cannot be used as a barcode. An RFID tag is considered to have a great effect in the laundry business, and thus, may be seen as a necessity, but because of its reliability, performance, etc., there are doubts on whether it can be used in the laundry business. In order to resolve such problems of an RFID tag, extensive research has recently been conducted on a tag for laundry.
As a result of the research, firstly, an RFID tag that is waterproof when packaged has been developed. Early RFID tags were mostly formed of polycarbonate (PC) or polyamide (PA). Early RFID tags were waterproof and had a high heat-resistant property, and also satisfied a general washing condition, that is, 50 cycles at a temperature of 100° C. However, since early RFID tags were formed of an injection mold material, such RFID tags were prone to damage due to an external impact. In particular, early RFID tags that were thick, and had high strength may not withstand today's inline process including washing, spin-drying, drying, and ironing.
Secondly, a flexible RFID tag has been developed. A flexible RFID tag uses a flexible injection mold material, and uses an inlay coated with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In this case, such an RFID tag is flexible, and may be bent during washing, and thus, may not be broken. However, a flexible injection mold material is easily affected by heat, and is easy to break. Furthermore, a flexible injection mold material may not protect an RFID chip. Accordingly, a flexible injection mold material is easily broken, and thus, may not be used for manufacturers handling a large load of laundry.
Thirdly, in order to protect an RFID chip, a portion of the RFID chip where the RFID chip attaches itself may be coated with a hard material or an elastic material. In this case, such an RFID chip may be protected, but reliability of the RFID tag may not be secured. In particular, a crack inevitably occurs due to a surface of an RFID chip being hard.
In an RFID tag for laundry, the most important issue is reliability. Users of an RFID tag for laundry do not include housewives and general users. Most users of an RFID tag for laundry are laundrymen handling a large load of laundry. Since a laundry process is automated, laundrymen focus on points that may not be easily controlled by humans. Because conditions such as being able to withstand entanglement of laundry, being waterproof, being able to withstand high temperature drying, being able to withstand ironing, and the like should be satisfied in a laundry process, there is a limitation in using unreliable products.